9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Restoring Order" is habit forming, January 20, 2006
This review is from: Restoring Order(TM): Organizing Strategies to Reclaim Your Life (Paperback)
Vicki Norris is an author, speaker, local and national TV personality, organizing-product designer, and topnotch organizing pro with her own company - Restoring Order - and, as of the date of this review, six employees. From time to time, as an author and small business owner, I've used her and her employees' organizing services to my great benefit for six years. I knew she was writing a book and I expected it to be good. Now that I've read it, I feel very grateful that she wrote it.
The subject of the book is organizing. Both time management and space organizing are covered in an integrated way. None of the systems discussed are elaborate.
I'm wondering if Vicki gets what a powerful thing she did with her book. It creates a mental state that allows the reader (client) for the most part to solve their own problems. So with a book she's achieved the ideal consulting situation: The client makes lasting changes by virtue of her presence.
Here's what the book's doing for me right now. With her stories about various organizing situations, it takes me in and out of pain vicariously and then leaves me with either ideas or an action oriented mental state or both. Makes me want to act out scenarios that will bring about the same feelings as experienced by reading the book. Her stories also make me want to read her book again and again.
As she explains well, organizing is an ongoing process having a lot to do with decision-making. And that can happen every day and should be an integral part of life.
"Restoring Order" is not only habit forming, it's a book to embrace and be embraced by. If getting organized has seemed to be beyond your grasp for a long time, Vicki's book is likely to give you a huge payback for your money.
How does this book compare to other organizing books? I've owned several and skimmed a lot more. Many other books are good, as is this one, at helping you set up organizing systems. Where Vicki's book shines is in three areas: (1) customizing of your organizing systems (2) maintenance of your organizing systems and (3) motivation.
Minor point: The book isn't too large and the spine is classy looking, making it a comfortable fit for any office or home library.
Gift idea: Besides being appropriate for busy people who could obviously use it - business owners, parents, teachers, etcetera, "Restoring Order" would also make a fine gift for those going through a major transition. For example, college students (especially freshman and seniors), those looking for work, people who have recently moved or are about to move, the recently divorced, and the recently bereaved.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
You can reclaim your life!, January 17, 2006
This review is from: Restoring Order(TM): Organizing Strategies to Reclaim Your Life (Paperback)
After reading this book from cover to cover, I found it to be a great resource and guide to help in getting my priorities in order.
I discovered that my priorities and values changed when I realized that time is a precious gift and more valuable than possessions. Vicki Norris gives you the chance to discover where your time and energy is wasted and the steps to remedy disorganization in your life.
As Vicki says "Not only will you learn organizing truths, principles, and strategies, you will learn how to become your own life manager." And that life will be much more personally gratifying thanks to Vicki!
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tackles disorganization by changing your thinking, March 21, 2006
This review is from: Restoring Order(TM): Organizing Strategies to Reclaim Your Life (Paperback)
Why do some people make neatness look so easy while others despair of ever seeing their desktop again? Is it something in the way they think, the habits they maintain, or maybe in the genes? Vicki Norris, a professional organizer, tackles her readers' disorganization through changing their thinking in Restoring Order.
Norris believes that people need to analyze why they are disorganized. Some don't know how to organize, while others are packrats, and others are overwhelmed perfectionists. She takes the reader through prioritizing, the process of organization, pruning your stuff, and preparing to organize. She then leads the reader into strategies for organizing, including getting the kids involved. This is less a "what-do-I-do-with-the-kids'-wet-mittens" approach, than a study of the thought processes going into organization. Along the way she throws in some how-to tips for office and home management. She also explains why many people fail in organizing, why shortcuts don't work, and why parents should keep computer equipment where they can oversee their children's ventures into cyberspace.
Norris enlivens the book with lots of anecdotes from her family life and entrepreneurial experience. She provides a pleasant, thought-engaging read that makes the reader consider those troublesome areas in your home or office. Now that I'm done reading, I think I'd better organize my laundry room. - Debbie W. Wilson, Christian Book Previews.com
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